Dressler v. Riccio

Citations

• 205 Conn. App. 533

Syllabus

The plaintiff sought to recover damages from the defendant attorney for, inter alia, legal malpractice in connection with the defendant's represen- tation of the plaintiff in a federal criminal case involving certain fraudu- lent real estate transactions. The plaintiff entered into a plea agreement in the federal case. The plaintiff's three count complaint alleged legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty and a violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA) (§ 42-110a et seq.). As to the legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty claims, the plaintiff alleged that he was required to pay an excessive amount in restitution as part of his sentence in the federal case as a result of the defendant's deficient representation of him. As to the CUTPA claim, the plaintiff alleged that he was compelled to retain the defendant as his criminal defense counsel in lieu of another attorney as a result of certain statements that the defendant made to him that were untrue, misleading and deceptive. The trial court granted a motion to strike filed by the defendant as to the plaintiff's CUTPA claim, and a motion for summary judgment filed by the defendant as to the legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty claims, from which the plaintiff appealed to this court. Held: 1. The trial court properly granted the defendant's motion to strike the plaintiff's CUTPA claim; pursuant to Connecticut case law, representa- tions made by an attorney to a prospective client regarding the attorney's expertise and/or competence do not relate to the entrepreneurial aspects of the practice of law and therefore are outside of the ambit of CUTPA; moreover, if the defendant breached the governing standard of care and the plaintiff suffered harm as a result, then the plaintiff's remedy would be to bring an action claiming legal malpractice, not a violation of CUTPA. 2. The trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the plaintiff's legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary